There are 36 Doctors of the Church, men and women who have demonstrated exceptional qualities in explaining the faith for their times and ours. Today’s saint is one of them, a bishop and cardinal of the Church in the 16th and 17th centuries, helping the Church reform herself after the Protestant Reformations. St. Robert Bellarmine was a Jesuit who, as an archbishop of Capua in Italy, supported the reforms of the Council of Trent. He originally taught theology in Belgium and Rome. Later, he became theologian to Pope Clement VIII and even received votes to become pope. He wrote two catechisms for the Church, which helped the Church explain the truths of the faith in a time of great confusion and different theologies.
St. Robert Bellarmine is the patron saint of both catechists and catechumens. Catechists teach the faith to believers. Catechumens are those who are being initiated into the Church and need teaching in the faith. It is appropriate that St. Robert be patron of both groups as they are linked together, one sharing the faith, the other receiving the faith.
We are catechists when we share our faith with others. When we witness to the love of Jesus in our lives we teach most effectively. But we are also catechumens in the sense that there is so much to learn about Jesus and about his love for us and how we can live that love in our lives. Jesus commanded in Mt. 28:19-20 to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” As St. Robert Bellarmine followed these directions, so may we.
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